(VOXtra) - September is gathering steam as the annual month to recognize voice overs worldwide, and organizer / voice actor Dave Courvoisier has imaginatively crafted an online event with weekly prizes to celebrate VOAT - Voice Over Awareness Today - this year.

 

"VOAT will capitalize on the positive response and momentum of the September 2010 NVOAM (National Voice Over Appreciation Month) promotion, but with several important improvements, explains Courvoiser, who also organized the 2010 activities.

 

In addition to voice acting, Courvoisier (pictured) is the nightly news anchor at KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, and the well-known blogger and social media advocate who recently hosted a VoiceOverXtra webinar on using social media to get voice over jobs and advance a career.

 

The purpose of this year's event is to "help build an informational database that benefits voice actors everywhere, while encouraging a sense of community and providing a fun program offering valuable prizes," Courvoisier explains.

 

VOAT plays off the ‘vote’ homonym by asking voice actors globally to ‘VOAT’ at the VOAT website on four different issues impacting voice actors - a "question of the week" for each week in September.

 

VOATers become eligible for voice over-targeted prizes provided by well-respected voice over equipment, service and client-seeking providers. The weekly winners will be chosen in random drawings.

 

 

For example, the question during the first week of September is:

Respondents are asked only to provide their name, email address (not published) and the answer, Courvoisier explains.

 

"No data is collected on the visitors. The site also allows respondents to upload a picture or soundfile to accompany their comment if they wish."

 

"All responses are listed in a thread-like format at the website, creating a collective knowledge-base that will benefit the entire community of voice over artists,” adds Courvoisier.

 

"Each week we'll have a new question, new comments, a new set of prizes, and a new winner.”

 

"Prizes for the month-long event are generous," notes Courvoisier. "High-profile businesses readily recognized by voice actors everywhere are contributing substantive prizes."

 

Prizes include:

Additional prizes will be awarded.

 

Sponsors of the month-long event include Voices.com, Voice123, SaVoa, VoiceOverXtra, Sweetwater and Edge Studio.

 

 

In 2010, the NVOAM (National Voice Over Appreciation Month) event struck a chord with voice actors everywhere who agreed it was time to celebrate the profession of voice acting, Courvoisier says. 

"With very little foreknowledge, hundreds of voice artists around the world responded with enthusiasm to the month-long ‘appreciation.’

A central website showcased a series of collaborative Public Service Announcements, and kept a running and busy calendar of voice over happenings that month.

 

"Voice actors are an extremely supportive, encouraging and giving people," Courvoisier notes.

 

"Many of them have enabled and sustained my VO career, and this is an attempt to celebrate the generous nature of the business, while helping to inform and create a community of like-minded peers."

 

For details and to participate in the month-long event, visit the VOAT website often:

www.VOAToday.com.